Raven sat down and grabbed a drink.
“Last time I saw him, he was behind this door,” Luna revealed, “why are you blushing?”
Raven made an awkward face. “He’s still in there.”
Luna frowned and went on to listen to the door. Now she heard the moaning as well.
“How the hell does he last so long?” she exclaimed.
“I have no idea. I will go catch some air,” Raven exhaled and turned to leave.
“Have fun,” Luna sat down by the side of the hallway to wait.
Raven walked up to the highest floor. He found a way to the roof and climbed onto it.
Nobody around, good.
He lied down on the roof and gazed upon the stars.
“Cannot sleep?” a strong female voice greeted him.
Raven looked by the voice. A woman in a heavy red gown was lying a few meters away from him.
Okay… I maaaay have overdone it with the alcohol… and not just a little, because I literally lied down next to a demon princess without noticing her.
“Yeah, sorry I disturbed you,” Raven breathed.
“Did you seriously not notice me?”
“I am sorry… I may have drunk a touch too much,” Raven revealed.
“Was the party so good or so bad?”
“It was strange… I don’t know how to put it… I don’t know what to think about it… I just don’t know,” Raven exhaled.
“What happened?”
“I have spent a long time traveling with a man. I didn’t know him before; now he is my friend. Today I found that he… forgot to mention some things. Important things. It’s not that he lied to me, neither technically not factually. It’s just,” Raven started.
“That he left out a few pieces for the general context which somehow change the whole idea,” she finished the sentence for him.
“Yea… I don’t even know how to call it or what to think about it,” Raven stated.
“Manipulation… that’s what it is. He told you the part of the story that made you draw the conclusion he wanted,” the woman revealed.
“You seem to know awful lot about this. My name’s Rael.”
“Zerae. I almost wish I didn’t,” she breathed.
“You sound sad, why?” Raven inquired.
“You first,” Zerae retorted.
“For over the past two years, I’ve been killing demons. Tens of thousands of them with the idea to work up to the top of their leadership to then behead it. Now I’ve met a part of that leadership and I’m not sure I want to do it anymore. How to say… that it’s the right thing to do,” Raven explained.
“Why are you so open with me?” Zerae pondered out loud.
“I see no harm in it… I guess I haven’t been betrayed enough times to be more careful about it,” Raven smirked.
“Yet you are still careful enough to say just your name, not who you are,” Zerae observed.
“So have you,” Raven smiled.
“I have been burned more than a few times. Anyway, so I guess you are the one who’s been going rampage at the bird and snake demons… how the hell did you get to dance with Kayleanne after that?” she tossed up.
“I have no idea. I truly expected her to try to stab me with some hidden poisoned dagger… but she didn’t. Now that troubles me. I thought I was hunting a monster, yet she seems to be anything but that.”
“Sounds like you need to talk to the man who got you into it,” Zerae stated.
“I do… but I have no idea what to expect from it or how to interpret whatever he does or doesn’t tell me,” Raven admitted.
“If he tells you the truth about what you ask, it’s fine. I have yet to meet a single person who would never lie to me or try to manipulate me… and I’ve met many, trust me,” Zerae announced.
“Thank you… that’s actually very helpful. Why haven’t you been at the party?”
“I didn’t feel like it.”
“That sounds like a lie,” Raven remarked.
“What makes you say that?” Zerae inquired.
“Your dress. It’s carefully arranged to hide your collar, that’s too much effort for staying on the roof,” he revealed.
“Perhaps. What’s your point?” she retorted sharply.
“Nothing… I just don’t like collars,” Raven admitted and stood up. He walked to Zerae and showed her his neck. “Here, on wrists, ankles and around the belt, that’s where I had my shackles for almost my entire life. These marks are embedded into my skin so strongly that even healers cannot remove them.”
“Were you a slave?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes.”
“Care to share the tale?” Zerae tried.
“There isn’t much to it. I was like that for as long as I remember, freed myself about two years ago and straight went on this demon killing journey. My life story isn’t much of a tale,” Raven admitted.
“How did you free yourself?”
“That’s… complex. Factually, I killed my owner and walked off. But that wasn’t the important part… it was the decision. The hardest part was overcoming the idea that being a slave is what I was supposed to be,” he revealed, “I am not sure I could have done it if everyone I cared about didn’t die beforehand.”
“And you went to beat out your grief on the demons. That’s quite a tale… how old are you?” she tossed up.
“Bit over twenty, why?”
“I was just curious... tell me, Rael, who are you?” Zerae pressed.
“What do I get if I do?” Raven smiled.
“How about a dance?” Zerae offered.
“I am a horrible dancer,” Rael remarked.
“Then you better tell me the truth to make it worth my while.”
“My name is Rael; this wasn’t a lie. But I am known as prince Raven, ruler of Illysaeas and about who I am… well… I am someone who won three thousand eight hundred and forty-nine matches in the arena without a loss or a draw,” Raven described himself and offered her a hand.
“Quite the killer, aren’t you?” Zerae took his hand and weaved herself to him.
“I wish I wasn’t.”
“Nah… it’s a good thing. Really, these aren’t the times for men of peace,” Zerae smiled and got up. The late night music still played from the castle beneath them.
“You dance better than I expected,” Zerae breathed as they danced beneath the stars.
“It’s a lot like fighting, actually,” Raven remarked.
“You just skip the slashing part,” Zerae smirked under her mask, “why don’t you have a mask?”
“I did bring one, but my sister thought it’s inappropriate,” Raven revealed.
“Tell me, Rael, what would you have done if your sister lied to you about something important?” Zerae inquired.
“Forgive her.”
“Just like that?” Zerae exhaled in surprise.
“Yea, what else? She would likely do it for a good reason and for as long as it’s just words, it’s nothing to be fussed about. I mean, even Lucas and his manipulation isn’t really a big deal,” Raven evaluated.
“How come it’s not a big deal?”
“I regret nothing from what I’ve done because of it. No matter what the truth is, I know who I had killed and I know they deserved it. That’s more than good enough for me… whether I did it for wrong or good reasons doesn’t matter much, in the end,” Raven explained.
“You are strange,” Zerae chuckled, “why are you staring at the collar?”
“I really don’t like it. Are you sure you don’t want me to take it off?” Raven replied.
“Yes. I would probably kill you the second it’s removed… you and a lot of people in the castle,” Zerae retorted.
“I still don’t like it. You have the mark by the upper edge, so you’ve had it for a really long time. I don’t know what the thing it’s supposed to seal inside you is, but hiding from it is not a solution,” Raven evaluated, “hiding is never a solution.”
“Alright.”
“Alright? That was the most obvious lie I’ve ever said… there is no way you wouldn’t have noticed and all you say is alright?” Zerae exhaled.
“People lie for a reason. I don’t know your reason, but I don’t see any harm in taking your word for it,” Raven smiled gently.
“You really are strange.”
“Sorry,” Raven apologized awkwardly.
“It’s a good thing, really.”
They danced till dawn. As the sun came up, Belenus landed on the roof next to them with a soft thud.
“I will need to go,” Zerae breathed.
“Nice bird,” Raven remarked awkwardly. Demon princesses really have a thing for big flying monsters, don’t they?
“Thanks. See you around, Rael,” Zerae bid him goodbye and teleported to the bird to sit down on it.
“See you around.”
48
Luna
Finally!
The door opened and the red-skinned woman walked out. She smiled at Luna, playfully blew her a kiss and waltzed off.
What’s with those eyes? It’s like I’m staring into an inferno.
Luna went to the door, opened and slid in. “How’s it going?” she asked poisonously as she peered down on Lucas. He was lying on his belly, covered by a featherbed.
“Hey, Luna… how about you help me a little and never tell anyone about it?” Lucas tossed up in a voice twisted by pain.
“Depends… when do you plan to deliver on my time with Miranda?” Luna demanded sharply.
“Now. We are stealing a bunch of undead horses and going pretty much straight to where Miranda is, we split up nearby, you go have fun and the rest of us go back to the war against demons,” Lucas revealed.
“Sounds acceptable. What do I get for helping you?” Luna inquired.
“Four more days with Miranda, same terms,” Lucas breathed.
“Deal. You must be really fucked up to give me what I want this easily,” Luna evaluated.
“Yeah,” Lucas confirmed and a small jar appeared next to him on the bed, “I need you to rub this tincture on my wrists, elbows, shoulders, lower back, hips and knees.”
“Sorry for asking, but how did you get so wrecked? And what’s with all these bandages?” Luna pried as she took the tincture and started rubbing it on his wrist.
“I guess we can’t do this without any questions, can we?” Lucas tried.
“We can, but then I will tell Zoey all about this little… incident,” Luna smiled warmly.
“That’s what I figured… well, the woman was Xanthe. It’s a spirit, one that has the awfully annoying ability of being able to seduce anyone… apparently in under a minute. I knew that beforehand, but couldn’t dodge her since Khalia was pinning me down to begin with. Her other annoying ability is that once you start doing things with her, you can’t really stop, take breaks or even slow down if she doesn’t allow you to. She wasn’t very benevolent tonight,” Lucas explained.
“It’s been about seven hours since you came into this room, how the hell did you manage? I mean, there is no way you wouldn’t… empty yourself much faster,” Luna inquired.
“Well, I couldn’t empty anything. She can either directly block it herself or Khalia slipped the blocking elixir into my drink,” Lucas revealed.
“Tell me… is she in any way related to Yen? Because this sounds awfully lot like her,” Luna evaluated.
“Xanthe is Yen’s spirit.”
“Oh, is she? What a shame that you got demolished by Yen’s spirit soon after you stopped me from doing anything with Yen herself,” Luna smiled poisonously, “if only someone were keeping Yen busy, she couldn’t have done this… what a shame.”
“I admit I do enjoy the irony, yes, next time you are free to do whatever,” Lucas admitted.
“How sweet of you,” Luna smiled, “now, why the hell do you have James’ runes on your body?”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t play stupid. You have three sets of runes hidden under the bandages; all form some sort of a spell… by the text, a seal. I have no idea what the other two are, but I can read the ancient vampiric as easily as common,” Luna stated, “and there is no one else who can make those other than James.”
“Did he seriously teach you that? Damn, daddy vampire sure didn’t take your education easy. There is no point pretending that these runes are from another bloodsucker, however the nature of these runes is something I am not willing to reveal,” Lucas evaded.
“Really?” Luna grabbed him by his shoulder and flipped him over. She ignored his grunt of pain and held him down, moving the bandages around the chest so she can see the text.
“Ssrww’vwerw’jtrej’ka fwerw’cwery’jerdxc’ywt ecwehwew’hrnyrt’cpon’fwerwe,” she read out loud, “that’s a soul seal. It’s like my bindings, a seal that’s made to hold a soul inside a body. Except this one is different… it’s for only one soul. You are not a human. You are a foreign soul possessing a… corpse?”
“Perhaps,” Lucas smirked.
“I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have done that,” Luna realized and covered back the bandages, making an awkward look.
“It’s alright. It’s not like it’s a big secret or something like that plus you would figure it out eventually, anyway,” Lucas smiled.
“Raven doesn’t know, does he?” she realized.
“He will realize it eventually… plus he’s not in the Order, so there is no need for him to know.”
“I’m not that high up in the Order either,” Luna contested, “it’s because of Miranda, isn’t it?”
“It’s because of James. He would tell you if you were to go ask him nicely,” Lucas replied.
“Fair enough… anyway, doesn’t it hurt?” Luna motioned toward his crotch.
“What was your first hint?” Lucas asked sarcastically.
“It looks like it’s going to explode any second and the swelling and color don’t look exactly… healthy,” Luna evaluated.
“I will need some ice for that, but now I need the tincture on my joints so I can move,” Lucas commented.
“Ice? Your stones look like they are about to explode as well… are you sure ice is the way to solve that?” Luna breathed.
“That’s a secondary problem. The main one is that the swelling will keep getting worse and well, I need to ride a horse for more than a few days,” Lucas countered.
“You really don’t have personal comfort high on your list of priorities, do you?” Luna gave him an awkward look.
“Yeah, I don’t.”
In awkward silence, Luna put the tincture where Lucas required; the brought him a bag of ice. He stuffed it under his pants and they headed out. Raven was in the main hall, trying to get some coffee as he got no sleep and Zoey was next to him, munching down a cupcake while having a whole basket of them over her shoulder.
“So… where are the horses we will be using?” Luna asked as they regrouped.
Raven looked like he didn’t even notice the question. He had a dreamy look and it felt like his mind is barely there.
“Where did you leave the horses when you came with Iowen?” Lucas asked.
“Eastern stables, why?” Zoey replied.
Lucas turned in the direction and led the way.
“You know this place awfully well,” Zoey breathed as they walked through the hallways.
“I’ve been here before,” Lucas revealed.
They found the horses soon. Lucas went to the first one, Iowen’s horse, cut off the saddlebags and hopped into the saddle.
“Let’s move!” he commanded.
“Are we seriously stealing their horses?” Raven asked as if the theft returned him to reality.
“The minute we leave the perimeter of the city, we will have a large demon army on our heels. We need to outrun them and well, if you see some other undead horses, be my guest,” Lucas made a
wide gesture.
Raven sighed and took one of the horses. They all did and quickly left the castle. The town was asleep so they could ride through it effortlessly.
“You weren’t kidding,” Zoey remarked as she saw the host moving by the edge of the forest, whose army is that?”
“Kayleanne’s and Ebilezerhar’s armies combined. I would guess it’s easily fifteen to twenty thousand of demons, give or take,” Lucas revealed.
“How the hell do we avoid that?” Luna asked awkwardly.
“We ride east, we break away from most of them in the forest and then keep going until we lose them. It won’t be soon though, so get ready to sleep in the saddle,” Lucas announced.
“I will need to talk to you once we can, in private,” Raven turned to him in a free moment.
Exactly as Lucas said, they rode east, broke through a thin line of snake demons and ran into the forest. The army was straight behind them.
49
Raven
“I believe others are asleep,” Raven went to Lucas. They stopped at a meadow for a couple of hours to rest. They were riding without a break for past two days so everyone was exhausted more than they would ever believe is possible. The break, albeit short-lived, was more than welcome, even though it meant the demon army behind them would get close to catching up.
“Alright, follow me,” Lucas agreed and led Raven into the forest to make sure they aren’t being listened to. “So... how was the party?”
“Interesting… could you indulge me in what the Children of the Sun are?” Raven asked straight.
“What I tell you now is mostly unknown lore, so keep it to yourself. Anyone who learns about it is potentially in serious danger because it’s too tempting to leave it untouched and digging into it, leads to serious trouble, got it?” Lucas started with a question.
“Yes.”
“Seriously, Raven, even mentioning the Red God attracts his attention and there is nothing good in that.”
“I understand, really,” Raven confirmed.
“Alright. Inside the sun is a place called the City of Eternity. That’s where the Children of the Sun had lived since the dawn of times. About five thousand years ago, give or take, the father of dragons conquered the City of Eternity. Since then he is known as the Red God. In their last breath of despair, Children of the Sun sealed him within the city; they turned their home into a prison. The Red God twisted the conquered race and turned its people into beings of his own image. He made them his slaves. Since then, Children of the Sun come in two varieties, the ones unaffected by the Red God and the ones twisted by him, the ones with wings and the ones with horns. In human terms, angels and devils. Alnil and Palai would be the former, Kayleanne the latter.”
Legacy of Death: Revenge (Legacy of Dreams Book 2) Page 39